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Abstract:

A network device connected to a base station via a backhaul connection
may be operable to determine whether the backhaul connection is
congested. The determination may be based on a periodic data cap imposed
on the backhaul connections. In response to a determination that the
backhaul connection is congested, the network device may configure one or
more cellular communication parameters of one or more of the plurality of
base stations. The determination may be based on one or more of: a total
amount of data consumed over the backhaul connection during a current
time period, a traffic load on the backhaul connection, and an amount of
time remaining in the current time period.

Claims:

1. A method comprising: determining a maximum amount of data that a
second service provider permits to be communicated over a network
connection during a billing period, wherein said network connection is a
backhaul connection for a first one of a plurality of small-cell base
stations; determining, in a network device of a first service provider,
that a total amount of data communicated over a network connection during
a current billing period will exceed said maximum amount of data, wherein
said determining is based on a traffic load on said network connection
during said current billing period; and in response to said determining
that said total amount of data communicated over said network connection
during said current billing period will exceed said maximum amount of
data, reconfiguring a value of one or more cellular communication
parameters utilized by one or more of said plurality of small-cell base
stations.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said total amount of data communicated
over said network connection during said current billing period includes
data communicated between non-base station devices.

3. A method comprising: determining, in a network device, whether a
backhaul connection of a first base station is congested, wherein said
determining is based on a periodic data cap on said backhaul connection;
and in response to a determination that said backhaul connection is
congested, performing, by said network device, a configuration of a value
of one or more cellular communication parameters utilized by said first
base station.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said determining is based on: a total
amount of data consumed over said backhaul connection during a current
time period; a traffic load on said backhaul connection; and an amount of
time remaining in said current time period.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said traffic load on said backhaul
connection comprises one or more of: an instantaneous traffic load on
said backhaul connection; an average traffic load on said backhaul
connection during said current time period; or an average traffic load on
said backhaul connection during one or more previous time periods.

6. The method of claim 4, comprising determining that said backhaul
connection is congested if M is greater than (D-B)/T, where: M is said
traffic load on said backhaul connection; D is said periodic data cap on
said backhaul connection; B is said total amount of data consumed over
said backhaul connection during said current time period; and T is said
amount of time remaining in said current time period, measured in units
of time.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein said one or more cellular communication
parameters comprise one or more of: whether to accept inbound handovers
or whether to initiate outbound handovers.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein said one or more cellular communication
parameters comprise one or more of: minimum quality of service (QoS)
level, transmit power, receive sensitivity, allocated bandwidth, or
scheduling frequency.

9. The method of claim 3, comprising, in performing said determining
whether said backhaul connection is congested, accounting for backhaul
data of said first base station and data communicated between non-base
station devices.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein: cellular connections handled by said
first base station are associated with a first service provider; and said
periodic data cap is imposed by a second service provider.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein said first base station is installed
in a building and said backhaul connection provides Internet access to
said building.

12. The method of claim 3, wherein said reconfiguring of said value of
said one or more cellular communication parameters triggers a handover of
one or mobile devices from said first base station to a second base
station whose connection is determined to not be congested.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said reconfiguring of said value of
said one or more cellular communication parameters comprises reducing a
transmit power utilized by said first base station such that a coverage
area of said first base station is reduced, thereby triggering said
handover.

14. A system comprising: a network device operably coupled to first base
station via a backhaul connection, said network management device being
operable to: determine whether said backhaul connection is congested,
wherein said determination is based on a periodic data cap on said
backhaul connection; and in response to a determination that said
backhaul connection is congested, configure one or more cellular
communication parameters utilized by said first base station.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein said determination is based on: a
total amount of data consumed over said backhaul connection during a
current time period; a traffic load on said backhaul connection; and an
amount of time remaining in said current time period.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said determination that said backhaul
connection is congested occurs if M is greater than (D-B)/T, where: M is
said traffic load on said backhaul connection; D is said periodic data
cap on said backhaul connection; B is said total amount of data consumed
over said backhaul connection during said current time period; and T is
said amount of time remaining in said current time period.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein said one or more cellular
communication parameters comprise one or more of: minimum quality of
service (QoS) level, transmit power, receive sensitivity, allocated
bandwidth, or scheduling frequency.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein: in addition to backhaul data of said
first base station, said backhaul connection carries data communicated
between non-base station devices; and said data communicated between said
non-base station devices is accounted for when performing said
determination of whether said backhaul connection is congested.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein said network device is operable to,
in response to a determination that said backhaul connection is
congested, trigger a handover of a mobile device from said first base
station to a second base station.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein said reconfiguring of said value of
said one or more cellular communication parameters comprises reducing a
transmit power utilized by said first base station such that a coverage
area of said first base station is reduced, thereby triggering said
handover.

Description:

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Aspects of the present application relate to wireless
communications. More specifically, to a method and apparatus for managing
traffic handled by base stations backhauled over data-capped network
connections.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Deploying small-cell (e.g., femtocell) base stations in homes and
businesses may present challenges not faced in the deployment of
macrocell base stations. Further limitations and disadvantages of
conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of
skill in the art, through comparison of such approaches with some aspects
of the present method and apparatus set forth in the remainder of this
disclosure with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY

[0003] A method and apparatus is provided for wireless communications,
substantially as illustrated by and/or described in connection with at
least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004]FIG. 1A depicts an example of a network comprising a plurality of
small-cell base stations backhauled over data-capped network connections.

[0005]FIG. 1B depicts an example of a network comprising a plurality of
small-cell base stations.

[0007]FIG. 1D is an example of a data structure utilized for managing a
small-cell network to mitigate congestion of backhaul connections.

[0008] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate reconfiguration of a cell boundary in
response to a backhaul connection becoming congested.

[0009] FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an example configuration and
reconfiguration of parameter values to mitigate congestion in a small
cell network.

[0010]FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating example steps for managing a
network of small-cell base stations to mitigate the impact of congestion
on backhaul connections.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] As utilized herein the terms "circuits" and "circuitry" refer to
physical electronic components (i.e. hardware) and any software and/or
firmware ("code") which may configure the hardware, be executed by the
hardware, and or otherwise be associated with the hardware. Hardware may
comprise, for example, one or more processors, ASICs, and/or FPGAs. As
utilized herein, "and/or" means any one or more of the items in the list
joined by "and/or". As an example, "x and/or y" means any element of the
three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example, "x, y, and/or
z" means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x, y), (x,
z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the terms "block" and
"module" refer to functions than can be performed by one or more
circuits. As utilized herein, the term "e.g.," introduce a list of one or
more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations.

[0012] In an example implementation, a network device of a first service
provider may determine that a total amount of data communicated over a
backhaul connection of a base station during a current billing period
will exceed a maximum amount of data permitted to be communicated over
the backhaul connection during the current billing period. The maximum
amount of data permitted to be communicated over the network connection
may be imposed by a second service provider. The determining may be based
on a traffic load on the network connection over the current billing
period. In response to a determination that the backhaul connection is
congested, a value of one or more cellular communication parameters
utilized by the base station may be reconfigured.

[0014] The subnetwork 110 may be a core network of a service provider that
provides network access to mobile devices. The subnetwork 110 may be, for
example, a core network 110 of a cellular service provider. The core
network 110 may comprise various components 112 (e.g., routers, switches,
hubs, etc.) for connecting the core network to the access networks 106a
and 106b and to the base station 124. The core network 110 may comprise a
base station manager 114 which may operate as described herein.

[0015] Each of the base stations 102a and 102b may be operable to
communicate data between mobile devices (e.g., devices 202a and 202b) and
a respective one of the subnetworks 106a and 106b. In this regard, base
station 202a may communicate data between mobile device 202a and the
subnetwork 106a, and base station 202b may communicate data between
mobile device 202b and subnetwork 106b. In this regard, each of the base
stations 102a and 102b may support any one or more wireless (e.g., Wi-Fi,
LTE), wired (e.g., Ethernet, DSL), and/or optical (e.g., Fibre Channel)
protocols. Each of the base stations 102a and 102b may comprise circuitry
operable to implement functions of a base station described herein.

[0016] In an example implementation, the base stations 102a and 102b may
be associated with the cellular provider that is associated with the core
network 110. In this regard, one or more agreements may be in place
between the owner(s) of the base stations 102a and 102b such that the
base stations 102a and 102b are permitted to communicate on frequencies
owned/leased by the cellular provider.

[0017] The connection 104a through the subnetwork 106a may carry backhaul
traffic for the base station 102a. The connection 104b through the
subnetwork 106b may carry backhaul traffic for the base station 102b.
Each of the connections 104a and 104b may comprise one or more wired,
wireless, and/or optical network links.

[0018] Each of the subnetworks 106a and 106b may be an access network of a
respective Internet service provider (ISP). Accordingly, each of the base
stations 102a and 102b may be associated with a contract between a
subscriber and an ISP that provides one of the access networks 106a and
106b. The subnetwork 106a may be, for example, an access network of a
cable television provider, where the owner and/or lessee of the base
station 102a has an account with the cable television provider, and the
base station 102a is associated with the contract, thus permitting the
base station 102a to communicate over the network 106a. The subnetwork
106b may be, for example, an access network of an xDSL provider, where
the owner and/or lessee of the base station 102b has an account with the
xDSL provider, and the base station 102b is associated with the contract,
thus permitting the base station 102a to communicate over the network
106a.

[0019] In an example implementation, the cellular provider may not have
control, or at least not sole control, over the access networks 106a and
106b. For example, the ISPs associated with the access networks 106a and
106b may be separate entities than the cellular provider associated with
the core network 110. Consequently, restrictions, such as periodic data
caps and/or maximum traffic loads, imposed on the connections 104a and
104b may be, at least partially, out of the control of the cellular
provider. Periodic data caps may be measured in, for example, bits or
bytes. A traffic load may be measured in, for example, bits or bytes per
unit time (e.g., megabits per second (Mbps) or megabytes per second
(MBps)). A traffic load may be, for example, an instantaneous traffic
load at one or more time instants, an average traffic load averaged over
a time period (e.g., an hour, day, week, month, year, or billing period),
and/or an average traffic load broken down by category (e.g., by time of
day, time of week, and/or time of year).

[0020] The base station manager 114 may be operable to collect information
about the backhaul connections 104a and 104b and utilize the information
for managing the respective traffic loads on the base stations 102a and
102b. The collected information may be stored in a data structure, such
as the one described below with respect to FIG. 1D, which may be part of,
and/or accessible by, the base station manager 114. Collected information
may be, for example, updated continuously, periodically, and/or on an
event-driven basis. The base station manager 114 may comprise circuitry
which resides in a single device or is distributed among a plurality of
devices. In this regard, although an example implementation is depicted
in which the base station manager 114 resides entirely in the core
network 110, the base station manager 114 could reside entirely or partly
in any one or more of the base station 102a, the base station 102b, and
the core network 110.

[0021] Managing the respective traffic loads on the base stations 102a and
102b may comprise reconfiguring a value of one or more parameters
utilized by one or both of the base stations 102a and 102b. The
parameters may include, for example: transmit power, receive sensitivity,
channels to utilize, one or more quality of service (QoS) thresholds
above and/or below which traffic is to be accepted and/or dropped,
identifiers of permitted and/or denied traffic flows, whether particular
base stations may accept inbound handovers, whether particular base
stations should initiate outbound handovers, and/or any other parameters
useful for managing the respective traffic loads on the base stations
102a and 102b.

[0022] Additionally or alternatively, managing the respective traffic
loads on the base stations 102a and 102b may comprise communication of
network management messages. Such messages may be communicated, for
example, between the base stations 102a and 102b, between the base
station 102a and the core network 110 (e.g., components 112 and/or the
base station manager 114), and/or between the base station 102b and the
core network 110 (e.g., components 112 and/or the base station manager
114). The network management messages may be communicated in-band and/or
out-of-band with one or both of the connections 104a and 104b.

[0023] The collected information may include, for example, one or more
maximum permitted traffic loads for the connection 104a (which may be
imposed by the ISP that provides connection 104a), and/or a one or more
maximum permitted traffic loads for the connection 104b (which may be
imposed by the ISP that provides connection 104b). For example, the ISP
that provides connection 104a may impose a maximum downstream load of 50
Mbps, and a maximum upstream load of 10 Mbps.

[0024] The collected information may, for example, include a periodic data
cap imposed on the connection 104a, and/or a periodic data cap imposed on
the connection 104b. For example, the ISP that provides connection 104a
may impose a monthly data cap of 250 GB and the ISP that provides
connection 104b may impose a monthly data cap of 300 GB. In some
instances, the periodic data cap and the maximum load of a connection may
be interrelated. For example, the ISP that provides connection 104a may
impose a maximum of 50 Mbps up to the first 250 GB in a billing cycle and
a maximum load of 10 Mbps for amounts in excess of 250 GB in a single
billing cycle.

[0025] The collected information may include, for example, a total amount
of traffic communicated over the connection 104a during one or more time
periods, and/or a total amount of traffic communicated over the
connection 104b during one or more time periods. A time period may be,
for example, an hour, day, week, month, year, and/or billing period
(e.g., the billing period for subscriber's contract with an ISP). In some
instances, the total amount of traffic may include only traffic that
counts towards a subscriber's periodic allotment. For example, the ISP
that provides connection 104a may impose a monthly data cap of 250 GB,
but only DOCSIS data may count toward that allotment while cable
television programming may not count toward the 250 GB allotment.

[0026] The collected information may include, for example, the one or more
traffic load values for one or both of the connections 104a and 104b. For
example, a current instantaneous traffic load and/or an average traffic
load over a current, in-progress time period may be collected for each of
the connections 104a and 104b.

[0027] The base station manager 114 may collect information about the
connections 104a and/or 104b through the communication of management
messages with other network devices (e.g., the base stations 102a and
102b, devices in the access networks 106a and 106b, and/or devices in the
core network 110). For example, other devices may collect information as
traffic arrives at and/or traverses them. Such devices may communicate
such collected information to the base station manager 114 on a periodic
or event-driven basis (e.g., in response to a request from the base
station manager 114). Additionally or alternatively, the management
messages may comprise probe messages utilized to measure various network
information.

[0028] In operation, the base stations 102a and 102b may communicate data
to and/or from mobile devices (e.g., devices 202a and 202b) utilizing
cellular protocols (e.g., LTE). Such data may be backhauled to and/or
from the core network 110 via a respective one of network connections
104a and 104b. Values of one or more parameters utilized by the base
stations 102a and 102b may be configured by the base station manager 114
in order to manage respective traffic loads on the base stations 102a and
102b. The configuration of the parameters may be based on collected
information about the respective traffic loads on the backhaul
connections 104a and 104b.

[0029] The collected information may be utilized to determine whether the
traffic load on the connection 104a and/or the traffic load on the
connection 104b has exceeded a threshold such as to be considered
"congested." The determination of whether a connection is congested may,
for example, be made periodically and/or made occasionally in response to
a triggering event or condition.

[0030] A threshold for considering a connection congested may, for
example, be calculated as shown below in EQ 1.

CT=(D-B)/T EQ. 1

where `CT` is the congestion threshold measured in bits per unit time,
`D` is the periodic data cap measured in bits, `B` is the total amount of
data consumed over the connection during the current time period
(measured in bits), and `T` is the amount of time (e.g., measured in
days, weeks, bi-weekly intervals, semi-monthly intervals, and/or months)
remaining in the current time period. In such an instance, the connection
may be determined to be congested if the following expression

L>CT? EQ. 2

evaluates to true, where L is a traffic load on the connection.

[0031] A connection may, for example, be determined to be congested if the
following expression:

L>(S)(M)? EQ. 3

evaluates to true, where `L` is a traffic load on the connection, `S` is
a scaling factor, and `M` is a maximum permitted load of the connection.

[0032]FIG. 1B depicts an example of a network comprising a plurality of
small-cell base stations. In the network 150 depicted in FIG. 1B, again
shown are the base stations 102a and 102b, the connections 104a and 104b,
the subnetwork 110, and the base station manager 114. Additionally,
network devices 152 and 158 and network links 154 and 156 are shown.

[0033] The network device 152 may comprise a non-base station device such
as, for example, a laptop or desktop computer that is not configured to
function as a base station. The device 152 may reside within a premises
160 (e.g., a residence, business or public venue) along with the base
station 102a. The device 152 may comprise circuitry operable to implement
functions of the network device 152 described herein.

[0034] The network device 158 may comprise a non-base station device such
as, for example, a router or network switch that is not configured to
function as a base station which may communicate with the base stations
102a and non-base station device 152 via network links 154 and 156
respectively. The network device 158 may reside within the premises 160
along with the base station 102a. The network device 158 may comprise
circuitry operable to implement functions of the network device 158
described herein.

[0035] The connection 104a may provide an Internet connection to the
premises 160. Thus, the connection 104a may carry data to and/or from
both the base station 102a and the non-base station device 152. Data to
and/or from the network device 152 may comprise, for example, website
data, file uploads, file downloads, and/or any other traffic which a
residence and/or business may communicate to and/or from the Internet.
Because data to and/or from the base station 102a shares the connection
104a with data to and/or from the non-base station device 152, the latter
may be accounted for by the base station manager 114 when collecting
information about the connection 104a and/or when determining whether the
connection 104a is congested. For example, where the respective cellular
traffic loads on the base stations 102a and 102b are roughly equal, but
device 152 is generating a lot of traffic, connection 104a may be
congested whereas connection 104b is not. Accordingly, the base station
manager 114 may take action to redistribute the existing loads (e.g.,
through handovers and/or traffic filtering) and/or to balance the
respective loads going forward (e.g., encourage or force new connections
to be established with the base station 102b rather than the base station
102, where possible).

[0036] In addition to routing/switching/bridging traffic between the
connection 104a and the links 154 and 156, the network device 158 may
perform and/or aid in the collection of information about the connection
104a. In this regard, the network device 158 may be a component of the
base station manager 114 and/or may exchange network management messages
with the base station manager 114.

[0037]FIG. 1c is a block diagram of an example base station manager. In
the example implementation depicted, the circuitry of the base station
manager 114 comprises a transceiver 116, a CPU 118, and a memory 120.

[0038] The transceiver 116 may be operable to communicate in accordance
with one or more communications protocols for communicating over wired,
wireless, and/or optical links. The transceiver 116 may, for example,
communicate utilizing the Internet protocol suite (including TCP and/or
IP).

[0039] The CPU 118 may be operable to effectuate operation of the base
station manager 114 by executing lines of code stored in the memory 120.
Such lines of code may include, for example, one or more programs for
collecting and analyzing network information to generate decisions
regarding the management of network traffic.

[0040] The memory 120 may comprise program memory, run-time memory, and/or
mass storage. The memory 120 may, for example, comprise non-volatile
memory, volatile memory, read only memory (ROM), random access memory
(RAM), flash memory, magnetic storage, and/or any other suitable memory.
Program memory may store lines of code executable by the CPU 118 to
effectuate operation of network management actions. Runtime memory may
store data generated and/or used during execution of the network
management programs. For example, runtime memory may store values
utilized in evaluating, and/or the results of evaluating, equations 1-3
above. Mass storage may, for example, store data that becomes too large
for efficient storage in runtime memory. For example, collected
information regarding connections 104a and 104b may be stored in mass
storage in a data structure 122 and portions of that data may be loaded
into runtime memory as needed. An example of the data structure 122 is
described below with reference to FIG. 1D.

[0041]FIG. 1D is an example of a data structure utilized for managing a
small-cell network to mitigate congestion of backhaul connections. Each
of the entries 1901-190N (where `N` is an integer and `n` is a
value between 1 and `N`) in the data structure 122 is associated with a
particular backhaul connection and comprises current conditions of (e.g.,
traffic load) and/or constraints on (e.g., data rate limit and/or
periodic data cap) the particular backhaul connection. In the
implementation depicted, each entry 190n comprises: a field 172
which stores an identifier associated with a particular backhaul
connection, a field 174 which stores the total amount of data consumed
over the connection during a time period (e.g., the current month or a
previous month), a field 176 which stores the periodic data cap imposed
on the connection, a field 178 which stores an amount of time left in the
time period, a field 180 which stores a traffic load on the connection,
and a field 182 which stores a maximum load imposed on the connection.
Each of the fields in FIG. 1D is populated with arbitrary values to
illustrate how the stored values may be utilized to determine whether a
connection is congested.

[0043] Thus, table 1 illustrates an example scenario in which connection
170b is determined to be congested as a result of the fact that, based on
its traffic load, L, the connection 170b will exceed its periodic data
cap for the time period. The consequences of exceeding the data cap may
depend on policies of the service provider that provides the connection
170c, but such consequences could include, for example, the connection
170c being disabled or a data rate of the connection 170c being throttled
down. The loss of connection 170c would result in a base station that is
backhauled by the connection 170c being unable to provide service to
mobile devices. This, in turn, could result in a "hole" or "dead zone" in
the cellular provider's coverage. Accordingly, the base station manager
114 may take action to attempt to reduce the load on the connection 170c.

[0045] Thus, table 2 illustrates an example scenario in which connection
170d is determined to be congested as a result of the fact that its
traffic load exceeds 80% of its maximum permitted load. Operating with a
load above S×M could, for example, increase latency and/or the
likelihood of dropped packets, which may negatively impact the experience
of mobile device users.

[0046] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate configuration of a cell boundary in
response to a backhaul connection becoming congested. In FIG. 2A, there
is shown the base station 102a, the base station 102b, a coverage area
204a of the base station 102a, a coverage area 204b of the base station
102b, and mobile devices 202a and 202b.

[0047] Each of the mobile devices 202a and 202b may comprise circuitry
operable to communicate utilizing one or more wireless protocols (e.g.,
LTE protocols). Each of the mobile devices 202a and 202b may be, for
example, a cellphone, a tablet computer, or a laptop computer.

[0048] In FIG. 2A, the base station 102a is serving mobile device 202a via
a wireless connection 210 and serving mobile device 202b via a wireless
connection 212. For illustration, assume that connection 104a (see FIG.
1A) to the base station 102a is congested as a result of the traffic to
and/or from the mobile devices 202a and 202b and/or other traffic from
non-base station devices on the connection 104a. Further assume that
connection 104b (see FIG. 1A) to base station 102b is not congested. The
base station manager 114 may detect that the connection 104a is congested
but that connection 104b is not. FIG. 2B illustrates an example response
of the network manager to the detected conditions on the connections 104a
and 104b. Specifically, FIG. 2B illustrates a response in which the base
station manager 114 reconfigures one or more parameter values to cause
the coverage areas 204a and 204b to be altered.

[0049] Moving from FIG. 2A to FIG. 2B, the reconfiguring results in the
mobile device 202b being handed-over to the base station 102b such that
the mobile device 202b is now serviced via the connection 214 to base
station 102b. After the handover, traffic to and from the mobile device
202b is backhauled over connection 104b rather than connection 104a, thus
alleviating the congestion on connection 104a.

[0050]FIG. 3A illustrates an example configuration of parameter values to
mitigate congestion in a small cell network. In FIG. 3A, there is shown
the base station 102a and its coverage area 204a, the base station 102b
and its coverage area 204b, and mobile devices 202a-202e.

[0051] Each of the mobile devices 202a-202e may comprise circuitry
operable to communicate utilizing one or more wireless protocols (e.g.,
LTE protocols). Each of the mobile devices 202a-202e may be, for example,
a cellphone, a tablet computer, or a laptop computer.

[0052] In FIG. 3A, the base station 102a is serving mobile device 202a via
a wireless connection 310 and base station 102b is service mobile devices
202b-202e via connections 314, 316, 318, and 320, respectively. For
illustration, assume that connection 104a (see e.g., FIG. 1A) to the base
station 102a is congested as a result of the traffic to and/or from
mobile device 202a and other traffic from non-base station devices on the
connection 104a. Further assume that connection 104b (see e.g., FIG. 1A)
to base station 102b is not congested (e.g., because connection 102b is
not carrying a high traffic load from non-base station devices). The base
station manager 114 may detect that connection 104a is congested but that
connection 104b is not. FIG. 3A illustrates an example response of the
network manager to these detected conditions. Specifically, FIG. 3A
illustrates a response in which the base station manager 114 configures
one or more parameter values of the base station 102a such that
association of the mobile device 202b with the base station 102b are
prevented (e.g., a request 312 from mobile device 202b may be dropped
and/or responded-to with a denial).

[0053] Moving from FIG. 3A to FIG. 3B, assume now that the connection 104b
has become congested and the backhaul connection 104a is no longer
congested. The base station manager 114 may detect that connection 104b
is congested but that connection 104a is not. FIG. 3B illustrates an
example response of the network manager to these detected conditions.
Specifically, FIG. 3B illustrates a response in which the base station
manager 114 configures one or more parameter values of the base station
102a such that the base station 102a is configured to accept handovers
from base station 102b, and may configure one or more parameters of the
base station 102a and/or 102b such that handover occurs. For example, a
transmit power utilized for the connection 314 may be reduced such that
the mobile device 202b determines that associating with the base station
102a will provide better performance.

[0054] In an example implementation, the parameters associated with
connection 314 may be configured without affecting the connections 316,
318, and 320. For example, transmit power may only be decreased for a
channel (e.g., frequency, timeslot, and/or CDMA code) associated with the
connection 314 while transmit power for channel(s) associated with the
connections 316, 318, and 320 may remain the same.

[0055]FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating example steps for managing a
network of small-cell base stations to mitigate the impact of congestion
on backhaul connections. In step 404, after start step 402, the base
station manager 114 may collect information about one or more connections
which serve as backhaul connections for one or more small-cell base
stations. The collected information may include the information depicted
in FIG. 1D and/or may include other information. In step 406, the
collected information may be utilized to determine whether one or more of
the backhaul connections are congested. The determination in step 406
may, for example, be made utilizing equations 1, 2, and/or 3 described
above. If one or more backhaul connections are determined to be
congested, then in step 408, one or more parameter values may be
configured to, for example, reduce a load on the congested connection,
shift traffic from a congested connection to an uncongested connection,
and/or prevent the congestion from worsening. Returning to step 406, if
none of the backhaul connections are congested, the steps may advance to
step 410 and a current configuration of the network may be maintained.

[0056] Other implementations may provide a non-transitory computer
readable medium and/or storage medium, and/or a non-transitory machine
readable medium and/or storage medium, having stored thereon, a machine
code and/or a computer program having at least one code section
executable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machine
and/or computer to perform the steps as described herein for traffic
management for base stations backhauled over data-capped network
connections.

[0057] Accordingly, the present method and/or apparatus may be realized in
hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. The
present method and/or apparatus may be realized in a centralized fashion
in at least one computing system, or in a distributed fashion where
different elements are spread across several interconnected computing
systems. Any kind of computing system or other apparatus adapted for
carrying out the methods described herein is suited. A typical
combination of hardware and software may be a general-purpose computing
system with a program or other code that, when being loaded and executed,
controls the computing system such that it carries out the methods
described herein. Another typical implementation may comprise an
application specific integrated circuit or chip.

[0058] The present method and/or apparatus may also be embedded in a
computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the
implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in
a computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer program in
the present context means any expression, in any language, code or
notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an
information processing capability to perform a particular function either
directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to
another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different
material form.

[0059] While the present method and/or apparatus has been described with
reference to certain implementations, it will be understood by those
skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may
be substituted without departing from the scope of the present method
and/or apparatus. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a
particular situation or material to the teachings of the present
disclosure without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended
that the present method and/or apparatus not be limited to the particular
implementations disclosed, but that the present method and/or apparatus
will include all implementations falling within the scope of the appended
claims.